OBJECTIVES: This review exhaustively gathers available information on ethnopharmacological uses, phytochemistry, and bioactivity studies on more than 20 species of Premna and critically analyzes the reports to provide the perspectives and directions for future research for the plants as potential source of drug leads and pharmaceutical agents.
METHODS: A literature search was performed on Premna species based on books of herbal medicine, major scientific databases including Chemical Abstract, Pubmed, SciFinder, Springerlink, Science Direct, Scopus, the Web of Science, Google Scholar, and ethnobotanical databases.
RESULTS: More than 250 compounds have been isolated and identified from Premna species, comprising of diterpenoids, iridoid glycosides, and flavonoids as the most common secondary metabolites, followed by sesquiterpenes, lignans, phenylethanoids, megastigmanes, glyceroglycolipids, and ceramides. Many in vitro and in vivo studies have been conducted to evaluate the biological and pharmacological properties of the extracts, and isolated compounds of Premna species with antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antihyperglycaemia, and cytotoxic activities.
CONCLUSION: The bioactive compounds responsible for the bioactivities of most plants have not been well identified as the reported in vivo pharmacological studies were mostly carried out on the crude extracts. The isolated bioactive components should also be further subjected to more preclinical studies and elaborate toxicity study before clinical trials can be pursued.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The evaluation was conducted among key informants in the National Cancer Registry (NCR) and reporting facilities from FebMay 2012 and was based on US CDC guidelines. Representativeness was assessed by matching cancer case in the Health Information System (HIS) and state pathology records with those in NCR. Data quality was measured through case finding and reabstracting of medical records by independent auditors. The reabstracting portion comprised 15 data items. Selfadministered questionnaires were used to assess simplicity and acceptability. Timeliness was measured from date of diagnosis to date of notification received and data dissemination.
RESULTS: Of 4613 cancer cases reported in HIS, 83.3% were matched with cancer registry. In the state pathology centre, 99.8% was notified to registry. Duplication of notification was 3%. Data completeness calculated for 104 samples was 63.4%. Registrars perceived simplicity in coding diagnosis as moderate. Notification process was moderately acceptable. Median duration of interval 1 was 5.7 months.
CONCLUSIONS: The performances of registry's attributes are fairly positive in terms of simplicity, case reporting sensitivity, and predictive value positive. It is moderately acceptable, data completeness and inflexible. The usefulness of registry is the area of concern to achieve registry objectives. Timeliness of reporting is within international standard, whereas timeliness to data dissemination was longer up to 4 years. Integration between existing HIS and national registration department will improve data quality.
METHODS: A participant blinded, multi-centre, randomised controlled trial was conducted in which the participants in the intervention group (IG) practiced deep breathing exercise guided by sound cues and those in the control group (CG) listened to the music. The primary end point was reduction in blood pressure at eight weeks.
RESULTS: 87 patients, 46 males and 41 females with mean age of 61.1 years were recruited and 93.1% of them successfully completed the study. There was significant reduction in systolic and diastolic Blood Pressure from baseline by 8 weeks in both groups. The reduction in Mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) in the control arm was 10.5mmHg compared to 8.3mmHg (p<0.001) in intervention group. Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) reduction in control and intervention groups were 5.2 mmHg (p<0.001) and 5.6 mmHg (p<0.001) respectively. The absolute difference in SBP reduction from baseline in IG & CG was -2.2 (95%CI: -7.8 to 3.5) and DBP was -0.4 (95%CI: -2.9 to 3.6). However, blood pressure reduction between the two groups was not significant.
CONCLUSIONS: Both listening to music and deep breathing exercise were associated with a clinically significant reduction in SBP and DBP. However, deep breathing exercise did not augment the benefit of music in reducing BP.